Foley Street Artwork: A Snapshot Of Sydney Through The Ages

An inner-city street
that has played a central role in Sydney’s cultural life
for more than a century will soon become home to a giant
artwork depicting some of the city’s most significant
people and events.

As part of the City of Sydney’s
annual Streetware program, a collective of renowned
Australian street artists, photographers and illustrators
have come together to present WE ARE HERE – a
15-metre-high, 75-metre-long mural running along the walls
of Foley Street.

The mural will tell the story of the
area’s long association with street parades, beginning
with the 1888 centenary of white settlement in Australia and
continuing through to Sydney’s annual Mardi Gras
celebration.

Using a bold colour palette and a series of
repeating motifs, it will also reference local historical
identities including Foley Street’s namesake – the
bare-knuckle boxer and ‘father’ of Australian boxing,
Larry Foley.

Sydney-based artists Sarah Howell, Dylan
Demarchi and The Dirt, and Canberra-based artist byrd, are
joining forces to bring the mural and its stories to life,
using a mixture of paint, collage, drawing, paste-ups,
stencils and photography.

The project’s curator, Juliet
Rosser, is director of Platform72 – an exhibition and
retail space at 72 Oxford Street in Darlinghurst and part of
the City’s successful creative spaces program.

Lord
Mayor Clover Moore said Streetware was a fantastic
opportunity for creative people to transform Sydney’s
public spaces into outdoor art galleries.

“Since its
launch in 2010, Streetware has featured exciting new works
by more than 20 emerging and established artists –
including renowned Aboriginal artist Reko Rennie’s
stunning fluorescent makeover of the T2 building at Taylor
Square.

“Now, we’re giving Foley Street a new lease
of life. WE ARE HERE will give Sydneysiders an
opportunity to get to know a different side of their city
through public art, with the mural telling important stories
from Darlinghurst’s history.”

The mural will feature on
the rear façade of 82-106 Oxford Street (the old Oxford
Street Municipal Chambers), between Palmer and Crown
streets, and will incorporate the façade’s brickwork,
roller doors, ducts, pipes, bars and grilles.

“WE
ARE HERE is a site-specific artwork that speaks of the
rich cultural and historical complexity of the local
area,” Miss Rosser said.

Sydney2030.com.au

“Foley Street and its surrounds have long been
home to iconic community celebrations – they held the
parade in 1888 marking the centenary of white settlement in
Australia, wartime farewells for soldiers heading abroad,
and are now part of the annual Sydney Mardi Gras street
spectacular.

“We are hoping the local community will
embrace the unique personality of WE ARE HERE, and
that it serves as a reminder that both throughout history
and today, Oxford Street is one of Sydney’s most
innovative and creative areas.”

Each of the four
artists featured in WE ARE HERE will complete a
different section of the artwork, exploring a particular
event or moment in time – such as ‘before settlement’,
‘federation’ and ‘Mardi Gras’. These sections will
be woven together by a common colour palette, featuring bold
reds, purples and blues, and the use of repeating motifs
including sign language.

A map will be produced as part
of the project, guiding viewers through the artwork and
providing background information on the events it depicts.
The map will be available at Platform72 and other creative
businesses in the area.

WE ARE HERE will be
launched on Friday, 22 March at 6pm when Foley Street is
closed to traffic for the night and transformed into a giant
street party to celebrate Art Month Sydney.

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